OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (DAVIS DINGLEY.) 



595 



Division. He led the advance on Centerville, and 

 on the day of the battle or Bull Run received 

 command of the 5th Division, and with part of 

 his troops defeated an attempt to turn the left 

 flank of the National army. When the retreat 

 began he fell back to Centerville, and, posting 

 his division on the heights, covered the retreat 

 of the remainder of the army and checked the 

 pursuit. He held his position till midnight, and 

 then, under orders, retired to Alexandria. The 

 winter he spent in the defenses of Washington. 

 On March 7, 1862, he was promoted brigadier 

 general and transferred to Gen. Halleck's army 

 in the West, in which he became commander of 

 the 2d Division (Army of the Tennessee). In 

 the movement against Corinth he took part in 

 the advance and the siege, and in the battle his 

 division alone for a time engaged the whole force 

 of the enemy. For these services he and his com- 

 mand were officially commended by Gen. Rose- 

 crans. Subsequently he commanded the military 

 districts of Columbus, Ky., Rolla, Mo., northern 

 Kansas, and Wisconsin, and .on June 11, 1865, 

 he was brevetted major general of volunteers. 

 Soon afterward he resigned and returned to New 

 York, where he had acquired large property in- 

 terests. Gen. Davies was the inventor and pat- 

 entee of many devices, including some improve- 

 ments in railroad construction which have been 

 used with success. He also spent much time in 

 philosophic and theological speculation, and was 

 a firm believer in the authenticity and inspira- 

 tion of the Bible. He was the author of numer- 

 ous works, including Cosmogony; or, Mysteries 

 of Creation (New York, 1858) ; Adam and Ha- 

 Adam (1859); Genesis Disclosed (1860); Answer 

 to Hugh Miller and Theoretical Geologists (1861) ; 

 How to Make Money, and How to Keep It ( 1866) ; 

 and Appeal of a Layman to the Committee on 

 the Revision of the English Version of the Holy 

 Scriptures, to have Adam and Ha-Adam restored 

 to the English Genesis where left out by Former 

 Translators (1875). 



Davis, George Royal, director general of the 

 World's Columbian Exposition, 1890-'94, born in 

 Palmer, Mass., June 

 3, 1840; died in Chi- 

 cago, 111., Nov. 25, 

 1899. He prepared 

 for college at Willis- 

 ton Seminary, but, 

 abandoning a college 

 education, he enlist- 

 ed as a private in the 

 8th Massachusetts 

 Volunteers in 1861, 

 and served through- 

 out the civil war. 

 He became a cap- 

 tain in the 8th Mas- 

 sachusetts and major 

 of the 3d Rhode Is- 

 land Cavalry. Upon 

 being mustered out 

 of service he received a civil appointment at Gen. 

 Phil Sheridan's headquarters, and went through 

 the Indian campaigns of 1868 and 1869 in south- 

 ern Kansas and Indian Territory. In 1871 he 

 resigned and went into business in Chicago. He 

 was elected to Congress in 1876, and was twice 

 re-elected. He was a delegate to several national 

 Republican conventions, but he was best known 

 for his work in connection with the World's 

 Columbian Exposition, which owed much of its 

 success to his executive ability. (See Authorized 

 History of the World's Columbian Exposition, 4 

 volumes, New York, 1898.) 



Davis, Jesse L., song writer, born in Cincin- 

 nati, Ohio, Dec. 3, 1863; died in Whitestone, Long 

 Island, N. Y., Oct. 18, 1H!M). lie was a negro 

 and a graduate of Gaines College, in his native 

 city. For many years he had been known widely 

 as a writer of popular songs, the most familiar 

 of which are The Lighthouse by the Sea, Wait 

 till the Tide Comes In, Why don't you Write a 

 Letter Home? In the Baggage Coach Ahead, The 

 Fatal Wedding, Send Back the Picture and the 

 Ring, and Down in Poverty Row. 



Dawes, Rufus R., military officer, born in 

 Malta, Morgan Co., Ohio, July 4, 1838; died in 

 Marietta, Ohio, Aug. 2, 1899. He was graduated 

 at Marietta College in 1860, and in 1861 entered 

 the National service as a captain in the 6th Wis- 

 consin Volunteers, which formed a part of the 

 famous " Iron Brigade." He served through the 

 war, attaining the rank successively of major, 

 lieutenant colonel, colonel, and brigadier general 

 by brevet, took part in 20 battles, was several 

 times wounded, and was the only officer of his 

 regiment that went through the war. After the 

 war he engaged in business in Marietta, and he 

 was a Representative in Congress in 1880-'82. 

 He was the father of Charles G. Dawes, controller 

 of the currency. 



Dewey, Chester Pomeroy, journalist, born in 

 Pittsfield, Mass., Jan. 10, 1826; died in Rochester, 

 N. Y., Aug. 5, 1899. He was the eldest child of 

 Dr. Chester Dewey and his wife, Olivia Pomeroy, 

 and went with his parents to Rochester in 1836. 

 He was graduated at Williams College in 1846, 

 and then spent a year as private tutor in the 

 Taliaferro family in Virginia. Returning to 

 Rochester, he studied law, and in 1850 was ad- 

 mitted to the bar in New York. Before he had 

 time to establish himself in practice he was called 

 to a place on the staff of the Daily American, 

 of Rochester. He remained with the American 

 till 1858, when it was consolidated with the Demo- 

 crat, and then, returning to New York, was sent 

 by the Evening Post into Illinois to report the 

 famous debate between Abraham Lincoln and 

 Stephen A. Douglas in their canvass for the 

 United States Senate. On completing this assign- 

 ment he took an editorial place on the Com- 

 mercial Advertiser, of New York, with which he 

 remained seventeen years, going thence to the 

 Brooklyn Argus, the American Agriculturist, of 

 New York, and the Commercial Bulletin, also of 

 New York. Since 1890, because of failing health, 

 he had not been steadily engaged in editorial 

 work. Within a few weeks of his death he gave 

 up his Brooklyn home and returned to Rochester. 

 Mr. Dewey was an earnest student throughout 

 his life, and he had a singularly retentive memory. 



Dingley, Nelson, legislator, born in Durham, 

 Me., Feb. 15, 1832; died in Washington, D. C., 

 Jan. 13, 1899. He was brought up on his father's 

 farm and in his country store. His early educa- 

 tion was obtained in the local district and high 

 schools. When seventeen years old he began 

 teaching, and he continued to teach each winter 

 till he entered Waterville College in 1851. Eight- 

 een months later he went to Dartmouth College, 

 where he was graduated in 1855 with high rank as 

 a student, debater, and writer. His family removed 

 to Auburn in 1854, and there he studied law, and 

 was admitted to the bar in 1856. But the same 

 year he purchased the Lewiston Journal, of which 

 he was editor and proprietor till his death. In 

 1854 he cast his first vote for Anson P. Morrill, 

 the antislavery and temperance candidate for 

 Governor, and in 1856 he wrote and spoke for the 

 first Republican candidate for the presidency, 

 John C. Fremont. He was elected to the Legis- 



